Analyzing Disaster Mitigation Policies in Japan and China from an Eco-DRR Perspective:A Comparative Study of Shanghai and Tokyo

Global climate change-induced natural disasters require international efforts and the adoption of Eco-Disaster Risk Reduction(Eco-DRR)policies for sustainable development.This study examines the status of Eco-DRR in disaster prevention policies through word cloud analysis,providing insights for policymakers to enhance disaster prevention amid increasing climate-related challenges.Tokyo and Japan prioritize soft aspects,while Shanghai and China emphasize engineering for flood prevention,revealing a gap in Eco-DRR application.Despite these differing approaches,the shared focus on water-related disasters indicates a shift towards urban resilience.Future research should assess policy effectiveness and the impact of Eco-DRR on disaster risk reduction and ecosystem protection.

Path Analysis of High-Quality Development of Regional Economy The Role and Impact of Industrial Policies

With China’s economic development entering a new normal,high-quality regional economic development has become an important goal of current economic development.As one of the important means to promote high-quality development of the regional economy,industrial policies are increasingly receiving attention in terms of their role and impact.This article mainly conducts an in-depth analysis of the mechanism and impact path of industrial policies,exploring the role and impact of industrial policies in promoting high-quality regional economic development.Firstly,industrial policies play an important role in promoting high-quality regional economic development.Secondly,the impact path of industrial policies on the high-quality development of the regional economy mainly includes promoting industrial structure upgrading,promoting technological innovation,guiding resource allocation,and enhancing enterprise competitiveness.Therefore,it is necessary to increase research and practice on industrial policies,continuously optimize policy measures,and promote high-quality development of the regional economy.

Analysis and Innovative Strategies of Tax Preferential Policies to Promote the Sustainable Development of Small-Scale Individual Businesses

This study conducted an in-depth analysis of the current tax preferential policies for small-scale individual businesses and compared them with similar policies both domestically and internationally,aiming to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of the current system.After examining the impact of these tax preferential policies on the economic status of individual business owners and the broader social economy,this article proposes a set of innovative tax preferential strategies based on theoretical foundations.By developing these innovative strategies and clarifying their implementation paths,the aim is to promote the sustainable and healthy development of small-scale individual businesses,thereby fostering comprehensive socio-economic progress.The conclusion of this study not only summarizes policy recommendations with practical significance but also provides theoretical support for the optimization and innovation of future related systems.

Combinations of Transportation Policies to Promote BRT Usage Using Artificial Society Model

Various transportation systems have been developed in recent years.In this study,an artificial society model is developed to examine the combination of transportation policies in urban areas.In this model,each trip maker selects the primary and terminal transportation modes.An artificial society model is applied to the southeastern region of Osaka City,Japan.The effects of introducing BRT(bus rapid transit,primary transportation)and on-demand buses(terminal transportation)are investigated.The results confirm that BRT is used by a certain number of users.An increase in the use of BRT will increase the amount of walking,thus resulting in a healthy city.However,on-demand buses are rarely used as terminal transportation.Additionally,the development of bicycle parking stations near BRT stops is shown to be effective in the northern section of the BRT route.

Asymmetric nexus between commercial policies and consumption‑based carbon emissions:new evidence from Pakistan

The current study extends the previous literature by exploring the effects of a newly discovered driver,i.e.,import taxes(as a proxy for commercial policies),on the consumption-based carbon emissions(CCO2e)for 1990Q1-2017Q4.For empirical analysis,several tests and methods,including Augmented Dickey–Fuller unit root test,Zivot–Andrews unit root test,asymmetric cointegration bound testing approach,non-linear ARDL,Wald-test,Granger causality test and wavelet quantile correlation(WQC)method are utilized.Furthermore,NARDL technique estimates reveal that contractionary commercial policy enhances the environmental quality by disrupting the detrimental effects of CCO2e.However,expansionary commercial policy escalates the environmental pollution by boosting the carbon emissions.Also,the exports and the renewable energy improve the ecological quality;however,GDP deteriorates the atmospheric quality by increasing the CCO2e.Besides,WQC method and the trivariate Granger causality test are deployed to confirm the robustness of the results.Based on the findings,some crucial policies are also recommended for sustainable and green development in Pakistan.

A Topology-Based Conflict Detection System for Firewall Policies using Bit-Vector-Based Spatial Calculus

Firewalls use packet filtering to either accept or deny packets on the basis of a set of predefined rules called filters. The firewall forms the initial layer of defense and protects the network from unauthorized access. However, maintaining firewall policies is always an error prone task, because the policies are highly complex. Conflict is a misconfiguration that occurs when a packet matches two or more filters. The occurrence of conflicts in a firewall policy makes the filters either redundant or shadowed, and as a result, the network does not reflect the actual configuration of the firewall policy. Hence, it is necessary to detect conflicts to keep the filters meaningful. Even though geometry-based conflict detection provides an exhaustive method for error classification, when the number of filters and headers increases, the demands on memory and computation time increase. To solve these two issues, we make two main contributions. First, we propose a topology-based conflict detection system that computes the topological relationship of the filters to detect the conflicts. Second, we propose a systematic implementation method called BISCAL (a bit-vector-based spatial calculus) to implement the proposed system and remove irrelevant data from the conflict detection computation. We perform a mathematical analysis as well as experimental evaluations and find that the amount of data needed for topology is only one-fourth of that needed for geometry.

Maternal Mortality: A Matter of Public Health Policies

Maternal mortality is a worldwide problem and concern, continuing to be a public health problem, the ratio of the same has been decreasing but still to those recommended by the World Health Organization. Objective: To perform a literature review, highlighting current aspects of maternal mortality. Method: The research was carried out in electronic databases Lilacs, Bireme-BVS, Scielo and BDENF, limited to the last 23 years. Those addressed pre-defined aspects of interest to the study proposal were selected—maternal mortality, public health policies, and the new approaches to the problem. Results: Maternal death is directly related to the living conditions of the population, showing variability from country to country (developed and developing), but its decrease is inherent to public policies and political will.

Estimation-free spatial-domain image reconstruction of structured illumination microscopy

Structured illumination microscopy(SIM)achieves super-resolution(SR)by modulating the high-frequency information of the sample into the passband of the optical system and subsequent image reconstruction.The traditional Wiener-filtering-based reconstruction algorithm operates in the Fourier domain,it requires prior knowledge of the sinusoidal illumination patterns which makes the time-consuming procedure of parameter estimation to raw datasets necessary,besides,the parameter estimation is sensitive to noise or aberration-induced pattern distortion which leads to reconstruction artifacts.Here,we propose a spatial-domain image reconstruction method that does not require parameter estimation but calculates patterns from raw datasets,and a reconstructed image can be obtained just by calculating the spatial covariance of differential calculated patterns and differential filtered datasets(the notch filtering operation is performed to the raw datasets for attenuating and compensating the optical transfer function(OTF)).Experiments on reconstructing raw datasets including nonbiological,biological,and simulated samples demonstrate that our method has SR capability,high reconstruction speed,and high robustness to aberration and noise.

Factors Influencing Employees on Compliance with Cybersecurity Policies and Their Implications for Protection of Information and Technology Assets in Saudi Arabia

In the current digital era, it is difficult to preserve the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an organization’s information and technology assets against cyber attacks. Organizations cannot rely solely on technical solutions for defense, since many cyber attacks attempt to exploit non-technical vulnerabilities such as how well employees comply with the organization’s cybersecurity policies. This study surveyed 245 randomly selected employees of government organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with an electronically distributed questionnaire about factors that influence employees’ compliance with cybersecurity policies. The study found that ethical factors had the most influence on employee compliance with cybersecurity policies, followed in decreasing order of influence by legislative factors, technical factors, and administrative factors.

THE OPTIMAL DEDUCTIBLE AND COVERAGE IN INSURANCE CONTRACTS AND EQUILIBRIUM RISK SHARING POLICIES

In this paper, we consider the optimal risk sharing problem between two parties in the insurance business: the insurer and the insured. The risk is allocated between the insurer and the insured by setting a deductible and coverage in the insurance contract. We obtain the optimal deductible and coverage by considering the expected product of the two parties' utilities of terminal wealth according to stochastic optimal control theory. An equilibrium policy is also derived for when there are both a deductible and coverage;this is done by modelling the problem as a stochastic game in a continuous-time framework. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the results of the paper.

The role of land as the central piece to sustainable food systems:Lessons learned from Portugal national food-related policies

This paper discusses to what extent land is considered in food-related policies from a systemic perspective.Based on existing literature and international agendas priorities,we argue that access to and preservation of land for food along the food chain play a major role in sustainable food systems.To further explore this argument,we address the following question:Where does land stand in sectorial and national food-related policies?The mul-tiple dimensions and implications of food systems and the international agenda’s priorities namely the“Right to adequate Food”,“Food Sovereignty”and the“Right to Land”,were used as our conceptual framework.To work out how land is being considered in food sectorial policies,both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to examine ten Portuguese national food-related policies.Results are showing a lack of consideration for land access and land preservation,needed all along the food chain to build a national sustainable food system.On the other hand,there is a gap between current grassroots priorities international agendas and food-related national policies.Such a situation strongly suggests that building a sustainable food system needs a clear food territorial perspective,still neglected,and shifting from sectorial policies towards a more integrated food system approach,that will include land as a central piece.

An overview of the policies and models of integrated development for solar and wind power generation in China

Under the goal of “Carbon Emission Peak and Carbon Neutralization”, the integrated development between various industries and renewable energy(photovoltaic, wind power) is of great significance in China. This paper summarizes the relevant policies, integration schemes and typical cases of the integrated development between renewable energy and other industries. First, the development status of wind and solar generation in China is introduced. Second, we summarize the relevant policies issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, National Energy Administration and other departments to promote the integrated development in photovoltaic and wind power generation in China. Third, eight kinds of photovoltaic three-dimensional development models are described, including “photovoltaic + agriculture, industry, environmental protection, transportation, architecture, communication, hydrogen and ecology”. Fourth, eight kinds of wind power threedimensional development models are summarized, including “Offshore wind power + marine ranch, marine energy, marine tourism, marine oil and gas, hydrogen, communication, Energy Island” and “Onshore wind power+ courtyard”. In the future, the promotion and application of the above integrated development projects will be accelerated. This overview aims to provide reference for the design in photovoltaic and wind energy systems and help potential investors to make decisions.

POLICIES

China’s New Policy Measures Relating to Free Trade Areas Were Announced China’s new policy measures relating to free trade areas,which were announced recently,will better leverage international and domestic markets as well as resources and will promote high-quality development,senior officials said recently.

POLICIES

Nation Eyes Policy Moves to Shore up Economy China will further strengthen its policy reserves and fully utilize the policy space to ease burdens on enterprises and shore up economic growth amid downward pressures,officials said recently.Experts said a raft of recently announced policy measures,such as cutting stamp duty and personal income tax,will help stabilize market sentiment and spur economic activity,adding that China still has ample tools and available policy space to support its economy.

A GDPR Compliant Approach to Assign Risk Levels to Privacy Policies

Data privacy laws require service providers to inform their customers on how user data is gathered,used,protected,and shared.The General Data ProtectionRegulation(GDPR)is a legal framework that provides guidelines for collecting and processing personal information from individuals.Service providers use privacy policies to outline the ways an organization captures,retains,analyzes,and shares customers’data with other parties.These policies are complex and written using legal jargon;therefore,users rarely read them before accepting them.There exist a number of approaches to automating the task of summarizing privacy policies and assigning risk levels.Most of the existing approaches are not GDPR compliant and use manual annotation/labeling of the privacy text to assign risk level,which is time-consuming and costly.We present a framework that helps users see not only data practice policy compliance with GDPR but also the risk levels to privacy associated with accepting that policy.The main contribution of our approach is eliminating the overhead cost of manual annotation by using the most frequent words in each category to create word-bags,which are used with Regular Expressions and Pointwise Mutual Information scores to assign risk levels that comply with the GDPR guidelines for data protection.We have also developed a web-based application to graphically display risk level reports for any given online privacy policy.Results show that our approach is not only consistent with GDPR but performs better than existing approaches by successfully assigning risk levels with 95.1%accuracy after assigning data practice categories with an accuracy rate of 79%.

Comprehensive Utilization Policies of Crop Straw at Home and Abroad and Its Implications for Xinjiang

This paper summarizes crop straw utilization policies at abroad from the aspects of investment support policies,tax revenue and unsecured loan policies,and reviewed China s crop straw utilization policies from the aspects of technical training,project subsidies,straw collection,storage and transportation system construction and socialized service system construction.Combined with the actual situation of Xinjiang,this paper puts forward policy formulation suggestions on crop straw comprehensive utilization.

Analysis of the Latest Progress of Methane Emissions Reduction Policies in the European Union and the United States

This paper elaborates on the key points of the latest developments in methane emissions reduction policies in the European Union(EU)and the United States(U.S.)and makes a comparative analysis of their policy frameworks.There are similarities between the EU and the U.S.in terms of methane emissions reduction measures,but there are also significant differences.For instance,the EU has proposed requirements for fossil energy imports,placing greater emphasis on the role of international organizations.On the basis of comparative analysis,this paper presents insights for China from the perspectives of the target,policy,data,emission reduction path,utilization as energy,and international influence.

Evaluation of COVID-19 Cases and Vaccinations in the State of Georgia, United States: A Spatial Perspective

This study evaluates the distribution of COVID-19 cases and mass vaccination campaigns from January 2020 to April 2023. There are over 235,000 COVID-19 cases and over 733,000 vaccinations across the 159 counties in the state of Georgia. Data on COVID-19 was acquired from usafact.org while the vaccination records were obtained from COVID-19 vaccination tracker. The spatial patterns across the counties were analyzed using spatial statistical techniques which include both global and local spatial autocorrelation. The study further evaluates the effect of vaccination and selected socio-economic predictors on COVID-19 cases across the study area. The result of hotspot analysis reveals that the epicenters of COVID-19 are distributed across Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, and DeKalb counties. It was also affirmed that the vaccination records followed the same pattern as COVID-19 cases’ epicenters. The result of the spatial error model performed well and accounted for a considerable percentage of the regression with an adjusted R squared of 0.68, Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) 387.682 and Breusch-Pagan of 9.8091. ESDA was employed to select the main explanatory variables. The selected variables include vaccination, population density, percentage of people that do not have health insurance, black race, Hispanic and these variables accounted for 68% of the number of COVID-19 cases in the state of Georgia during the study period. The study concludes that both COVID-19 cases and vaccinated individuals have spatial peculiarities across counties in Georgia state. Lastly, socio-economic variables and vaccination are very important to reduce the vulnerability of individuals to COVID-19 disease.

Book Review of Developing Multilingual Education Policies:Theory,Research and Practice Edited by Michal Tannenbaum,and Elana Shohamy,London&New York:Routledge,2023,PP.208,$135.ISBN:978-0-367-61989-3(hbk)

In the book review,the author introduced the latest theoretical and practical endeavors by Isreali scholars to tackle challenges posed by multilingualism.Michal Tannenbaum and Elena Shohamy conducted a comprehensive examination of the Isreali social and educational context,setting the stage for their proposal of a new multilingual policy.The new multilingual education policy has been formulated on the basis of extensive domestic and overseas research and empirical investigation,it is expected to be offer some insights into promoting multilingualism and social justice in both Isreal and the world.

A Study on the Existing Cybersecurity Policies and Strategies in Combating Increased Cybercrime in Zambia

The incidence of cybercrime in Zambia is rising, with perpetrators exhibiting a growing tendency to focus on corporate entities and private citizens. The Zambian government has tried to resolve the issue of network protection dangers through the execution of different approaches and procedures. Notwithstanding, the adequacy of these actions has been restricted. The present research investigates Zambia’s extant cybersecurity policies and strategies and delineates several domains where enhancements can be made. The research provides several suggestions on how the Zambian government can enhance its efforts to address cybercrime. This research employs a qualitative approach to investigate the extent of cybersecurity policies and strategies in Zambia by analyzing secondary data. The study seeks to offer valuable insights into the efficacy of Zambia’s cybersecurity framework in addressing the escalating menace of cybercrime by scrutinizing pertinent literature, government reports, and academic articles. The results of this study provide valuable insights into the difficulties encountered by the nation and propose suggestions for improving current policies and strategies.